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Summary

Cairn at the north end of the eastern stone row near Collard Tor

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1003829: Two cairns with stone rows E of Collard Tor on Wotter Common

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE 53
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/230/1
• Old SAM County Ref: 283
• Pastscape: 439259

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CAIRN (Constructed, Late Neolithic - 3000 BC to 2201 BC (Between))

Full description

Ministry of Works, Two Cairns with Stone Rows near Collard Tor, on Wotter Common (Schedule Document). SDV343478.

Two low cairns with associated stone rows. To east, 26 feet diameter, 2 feet high remains of a cist with cover stone beside it. A circle of free standing orthostats (8 erect) at margin of cairn, 2 feet 4 inches to 2 feet 9 inches high. Fair condition, has probably been disturbed in the centre, but the peristalith is good.

Unknown, Untitled Source (Unattributed Sites and Monuments Register Entry). SDV343486.

Not recorded during Royal Commission on Historical Monuments air photo project 1985.

Baring Gould, S., 1903, Ninth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 140 (Article in Serial). SDV343488.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, RAF/106G/UK/1190 RP 3256-3257 27-FEB-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363067.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Worth, R. H., 1946, The Stone Rows of Dartmoor. Part 1, 140 (Article in Serial). SDV251172.

Cairn at north end of row 12, Collard Tor. Retaining circle 7.8 metres in diameter, with five stones standing and another approximately in place.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950 - 1976, SX56SE 53 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV343483.

b. A cairn 26 feet in diameter and two feet high. It is surrounded by a stone circle 26 .5 feet in diameter, of which 5 stones are still standing. Other details: Plans.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 165 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited 28th July 1972. Cairn with traces of retaining circle, 8 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 48, 54, 79 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

F17. Encircled cairn. Ring of orthostats 7.4 metres diameter, around cairn 5.5 metres diameter and 0.5 metres high. Much disturbed. Aligned west of centre of stone row.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 106-9, Map 48, Figures 48.6 & 48.6.1 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Collard Tor stone row cairn '1' at SX55856203 of 9.0 metres diameter by 0.3 metres high which possibly once contained a cist. The cairn is surrounded by a ring of slabs with three of them leaning or flat and probably only a further three to make it complete with 10 stones. A slab lying on the edge of the centrel pit may be one of these stones or the cover of a cist.

National Monuments Record, 1998, NMR 18021, NMR 18021/21 19-MAY-98 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363402.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Fletcher, M. + Probert, S., 1998, Shaugh Moor, Devon: An Archaeological Survey, 3 (Report - Survey). SDV343481.

Two poorly preserved single stone rows each focused upon a disturbed cairn lie on the crest of the ridge east of Collard Tor overlooking Wotter. The cairns at the upper, north, ends of the rows are circa 8 metres and 8.4 metres in diameter.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5562 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5562 31-MAY-2016 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Cairn shown on survey.

National Monuments Record, 2009, 439259 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV343480.

Two stone rows each headed by a cairn lie on a gentle clitter-covered south-facing hillslope. Ordnance Survey field investigator's comments 1st October 1980. The easterly cairn at SX 55846203 measures 8.1 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high. The centre has been excavated, but apart from a large prone slab there is nothing to suggest a former cist. The mound is surrounded by a peristalith of boulders each of which is 0.9 metres high and roughly 0.5 metres square. The row is similar to the other row and can be traced for 79.6 metrs. Some of the stones are included in a boulder and rubble field wall 1.2 metres wide and 0.4 metres high, which follows the row for 6.0 metres. Other details: SX56SE 53.

English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009: South West, 109 (Report - non-specific). SDV342694.

Generally satisfactory but with minor localised problems. Principal vulnerability plant growth.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5562 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

A mound is identifiable as an earthwork.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, SM9 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 06/06/2019. Site description is good with the five standing stones at the cairn site. Photo taken

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, SM9 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited 06/06/2019. Photo taken of the cairn at the east end of the stone row. Looking north

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

A roughly oval mound circa 9m to across is identifiable as an earthwork under vegetation on aerial photographs of 1946 on the south-east facing slopes of Wotter Common.
The earthworks are more clearly visible on aerial photographs of 1998, that reveal the mound to comprise a spread circa 3m wide M-shaped bank, the south-facing arms flanking a 5m wide oval mound. Lidar derived visualisations might support the interpretation that the mound to the south survives as a higher earthwork than the bulk of the mound.
The visible earthworks are interpreted as the mutilated and robbed remains of a cairn or barrow of probable of Bronze Age date, surviving as a mound up to circa 7m across.
A second mound is visible circa 8m to the west.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

Cairn shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1003829 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This monument includes two single stone alignments and two cairns situated on a gentle south facing slope on Wotter Common overlooking the valley of the Tory Brook. Both alignments are orientated north to south, have cairns at their northern ends and terminal stones at their southern ends. A cairn with an encircling kerb stands at the northern end of the stone alignment. The mound measures 9 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres high and the kerb includes 10 orthostats. A granite slab lying on the southern edge of slight hollow in the centre of the mound represents a cist cover displaced by robbing or partial early excavation.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)
• EDV4967 - Survey of Shaugh Moor

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